TV station that brings news of Kabul to 35m

Arabs choose al-Jazeera over CNN, reports David Graves in Muscat

12:01AM BST 15 Oct 2001

IN the teahouses of the Mutrah Souq of old Muscat, the televisions are tuned into only one channel: al-Jazeera, the Qatari satellite station that is Osama bin Laden's conduit of choice. Live pictures of American planes on bombing raids on Kabul dominate the conversation among the shopkeepers.

It is the same across the Gulf and many parts of the Arab world. While Western viewers tune into CNN and the BBC for continuous coverage of the war against terrorism, in the Middle East, Arabs turn to al-Jazeera, which they consider to be more impartial.

The channel has developed an audience of more than 35 million since the terrorist attacks in America on September 11. It is the only foreign broadcaster with live coverage from Kabul, and its pictures have been re-broadcast around the world.

Sipping tea as he watched footage on al-Jazeera of a US Force jet swoop low over Kabul, Mohammed al-Khair, 53, a silver trader, said: "We believe what we see on al-Jazeera. It has upset so many people in the Middle East over the years because of its independence that we have great respect for it.

"Although we sometimes watch CNN and the BBC, al-Jazeera is in Arabic and can reach out to many people because we all have satellite television. Our own television is very boring and run by the Ministry of Information. But al-Jazeera is different because it tells us what is really happening.

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"There is little sympathy with Osama bin Laden, but the people of Afghanistan are now the ones who are suffering. They have already suffered enough through years of war and there is great sympathy for them."

His friend, Ahmed al Kharusi, 48, said: "We watch al-Jazeera because it gives us the Arab viewpoint on events. There is great sympathy for the people of Afghanistan - that is not always reflected on Western television. There is also great sympathy for the Palestinians, which is also not properly reflected on television from the West."

While al-Jazeera's track record of criticising the autocratic rule of the Saudi royal family and the lack of human rights in Iraq and other Arab states may not have endeared it to some Middle Eastern governments, it has won the loyalty of many ordinary Arabs fed up with the pandering waffle transmitted by most state broadcasting channels.

Al-Jazeera (The Peninsula) is now experiencing its finest hour, as CNN did during the bombing of Baghdad in 1990. Its ability to reach into government offices and homes throughout the Middle East has made it an invaluable publicity tool for all the combatants in the current conflict.

In the Gulf, Washington's criticism of the station has only increased its credibility among Arabs who, while condemning the US terrorist attacks, have grave misgivings about the campaign in Afghanistan and the West's continued support of Israel. Mr al Kharusi said the battle for the hearts and minds of many in the Middle East may already have been won by bin Laden.